We Belong
by Second Best
Summary: AU Tulie. They've been together for the longest time, but they're just ready now to make it work. Is it too late? Quite a bit of good-natured Lyla bashing.
1. THE PAST ALWAYS FINDS A WAY TO HAUNT US

**We Belong**

It's a little bit of AU Tim and Julie love, with the girl who's giving Alvin and the rest of the chipmunks a run for their money thrown in.

Summary? Read the first chapter, but basically it's a marriage that hadn't worked in a long time, but maybe people are willing to change that. 

You know those Pat Benatar lyrics?

"We belong to the light  
We belong to the thunder  
We belong to the sound of the words  
Weve both fallen under  
Whatever we deny or embrace  
For worse or for better  
We belong, we belong  
We belong together"

Dedicated to Kareene, my biggest fan... anyway, you're mentioned. And to Adele, you're also in here. 

Oh yeah, I disclaim.

Written by me, Lily. Duh.

**Chapter One: The Past Always Finds a Way to Haunt Us**

"Julie... listen. There's this girl."

Julie paused but then said, "I've stopped caring who he shared a bed with a long time ago."

There was silence for a long time.

"Jason, it's not Lyla is it?"

* * *

So maybe she was a little bit jealous, a little bit. I mean, Lyla was... wasn't her. And Tim was still, legally, her husband. So that gave her a little bit of an excuse, right? So she was a little bit... over... the whole Lyla issue. I mean, what power did Lyla hold over her husband? Her husband. 

She hadn't really thought of him like that, hers, in such a long time it was a weird feeling to do it now. 

And she wasn't going for her either. She was going for Jason. Not her.

She wasn't about to make that bitch pay for her, she was doing it for a friend. Ugh, why did him having power over her destroy her so? She didn't care who he went off with unless it was Lyla Garrity. 

She was on a plane from Vermont within hours. She called into the library and told them she wouldn't be into work for a few days. They accepted, only Kareene whinged a little bit... ("You don't seriously think I'm going to take over your shifts do you?" "Well, isn't that what best friends are for?" "You might have a point there.") but when she told her friends and coworkers she was going to set something right, once and for all, they decided to let her go. Not that she gave them a choice, or more than an hours warning.

The plane was icky. There's a way to describe it... economy.

As soon as she arrived in Dillon, her birthplace, she reminded herself why she left. She left because good is good and bad is bad. And Dillon had been bad for her last year there. When she passed the church, where she'd made her vows, she felt a little bit uneasy.

After all, she'd become pregnant with her only child at eighteen. Her father had of course spazzed and went after Tim's balls with a pitchfork. He hadn't even known yet, he was just informed with her daddy's fists. Her daddy didn't even know they were... a thing. Tim had insisted he marry her, her dad thought that was a crime worse than abortion. His lovely, perfect daughter and that Riggins boy... uh no. She really wished her momma hadn't picked up the telephone and then told the coach all about her little charade.

Her wedding day was probably the worst day of her life other than that other grim... incident. Her miscarriage. It happened on a football field. She couldn't ever go to another one of her daddy's games.

On her wedding day, halfway through her freshman year at college, her daddy asked her, "Whatever happened to Matt Saracen?" she could have slapped him. She didn't really see much more of her parents anymore.

* * *

"I called Julie." 

Tim was shocked, "Street, what the hell gives you that right?" He was angry, he didn't really want to hear about her anymore. He kind of broke them, he had been the immediate cause of 

their breaking up. Him sleeping with Adele, the hot young co-ed who wanted him so bad, and his wife didn't want him at all. All Julie wanted was to be depressed and irritating and... 

He wrecked the one relationship he thought he could make work. I mean, them getting married kind of wrecked the relationship. And then there was the miscarriage, her feud with her parents, her going on anti-depressants (which hadn't seemed to work), and then football.

Football wrecked Tim and Julie as much as anything else. She was watching him play his first game of first string football when she lost the baby. 

"What gives me that right? You're dating Lyla fucking Garrity!"

Herc, who was just wheeling into the room said, "That bitch? You're dating her?" he laughed, and Tim almost wanted to join him. Because being with Lyla like... an actual couple... was something he never thought would happen. I mean, sure, he had done 'er in junior year, but they were way, way past that. Well, Street was still a little pissed off.

"You said it was ok."

Herc rolled his eyes, and Jason snorted, "Yeah... like ten years ago! We don't need Garrity in our lives anymore."

"There's always Tyra," Herc smiled, looking from Riggins to Jason. Tyra had just moved back to Dillon to take care of her dying mother and Herc was a little more excited then... anybody Tim had ever seen before. "But for me, not you ladies." He wheeled out. 

"So any second now, Julie Taylor's gunna march right through this door?"

"Julie Riggins."

Tim froze, uh no he didn't. The reason this hurt so much was because Julie now went by Julie Taylor again. He'd seen her driver's license when he went up to her place for his last visit eight years ago. She moved to fucking Vermont. Who moves to Vermont? I mean, Texas Forever right? Maybe an underlying cause to their relationship falling apart was that he really knew nothing about her. He had no idea she had some sort of obsession with Vermont or whatever.

Ok he was obsessing.

"No, Julie Taylor."

As he said this, he was still contemplating why they hadn't gotten a divorce. I mean, they'd split 'bout nine years ago, they hadn't talked in forever. Now it dawned on him that the reason they hadn't gone through with a divorce was that they both had some hope for the future. 


	2. BROKE INTO THE OLD APARTMENT

**Chapter Two: Broke Into The Old Apartment**

She didn't bother with dawdling around town, she headed straight for Tim's apartment using the address Jason had given her. She made a fist and knocked on the door harshly, taking her anger and aggression for Tim out on the piece of wood. He didn't answer. Fucker. She went for the door handle. It was locked. He'd never locked it when she'd gone after him. She looked under the mat. Of course it was there. Man, it was easy to break into his place. She felt the urge to steal his stereo.

She walked into his apartment. It looked like he was in college, not that he'd gone, but he had the look down pat. What a lame chair. She wasn't as design inclined as, say, Colin and Justin, or anyone else on HGTV, but she knew that the thing that was in Tim's living room was not a chair. But the living room was surprisingly clean.

She noticed that the entire room's emphasis was on the television. Typical Riggins. He probably had a porn stash under his bed. Kareene had said something about how men who had weird cravings for porn probably never got enough. Though that was when she was dating the Russian guy who wanted to film them having sex.

She went into his room. She knew that she was nosy, but she was also married to the guy... so whatever was his was hers, right? Her heart stopped when she saw the picture of her and Tim tucked into the mirror. It also stopped when she realized how messy his room was, seriously there was a lot of beer cans thrown about. She looked down and out of the corner of her eye saw a box of condoms. A box. Like he used them. Like he was having sex. Sex. Without her.

_You're dating someone, _she told herself. She focused her thoughts on James, the guy who was perfect for her, a guy who her father would love. James Walsh, an Australian author who was on NPR every Thursday. Her father would mostly like James because he wasn't a football player who put it out there that he wanted to get her in bed. He was more... calm. Respectable.

She didn't really see her and James going anywhere though. It was, what her naughty librarian best friend had told her, a Literary Fling. She didn't really get what it meant, but Kareene sorted her relationships into ten categories.

"Hello?" she heard from behind her. She dropped her coffee onto Tim's floor. She turned around, "Hey... honey..."

"You're breaking into my house now??"

"... You're living room is really clean."

"Why am I not surprised you're in the bedroom?"

She looked up and her eyes met with his and they sort of melted together. "You're not dating Lyla."

"I'm pretty sure I am."

"I'm pretty sure you're not being a jerk to your best friend and to me."

"How long are you in town for, Jules?"

She shrugged, "Should I clean up this?" she was referring to the split coffee.

"I'll get it later."

"Are you sure... I mean... someone could slip."

"Right into bed."

She rolled her eyes, "Is this your idea of charm?"

"It worked the first time."

"Hate to break it to you, you were never charming. Just hot."

"Thank you." Silence came over them. Finally Tim broke it with a, "You want a drink?"

She nodded and left beside him, walking at a similar pace. His kitchen was messy like the bedroom. He caught her looking around, "I heard you were coming and shoved everything out of the living room." She had to smile at that, but she didn't say anything. "How's Canada?"

"I live in Vermont."

He nodded, and laughed. Shots were poured down throats, Tim really could chug.

"I should get going," Julie said after two. She wasn't about to get wasted with her husband who had condoms at hand.

He hugged her, and she hated him for thinking after everything he had the right to squeeze her breasts up to his chest and hold her there.

"So, how long are you staying?"

"I think I'll be gone tomorrow."

"Just in time for my date with Lyla." he commented, she glared at him. He went on, changing the subject to something he deemed more important. "Have you seen your family yet?"

She looked away. He knew her answer just by looking at her. After everything that had happened he knew her well, not perfectly, but he got her quirks and quarks. "You're not really going out with Lyla, are you?"

More silence. "Are you gunna come back?"

She shrugged, "When?"

"Tomorrow? The next day?"

She nodded, "I guess." She looked so sad... like there was something missing from her.

"I missed you, Julie Taylor."

"Technically it's Julie Riggins."

"But it never was really like that, was it?" He felt bad about it, but he was through kidding himself or putting up a front.

"No, not really." she had to smile at that, because it made her think that maybe Riggins wasn't a idiot who she'd only gotten with because of a momentary lapse of judgment and stayed with because of the sex. Maybe there was hope for Tim Riggins after all.

**AN: It's a bit on the short side, but I hope you all enjoy! Remember, I crucify those who don't review. And thank you to all who reviewed!**


	3. SWEET SURRENDER

**Chapter Three: Sweet Surrender**

He'd spent three hours cleaning up his apartment, getting the coffee first. It looked much better then before, if he did say so himself. He'd cleaned the living room last night in preparation, but she got in before he could finish the rest. Why did he care? Why did he care if Julie saw his apartment all messed up? She'd seen him in action the ten months they lived together. Ten years ago, or so. He was working at Buddy Garrity's car dealership... he didn't have the dream. He wanted the dream, he was here wasn't he? But going near the stadium hurt.

She knocked this time, and when he commented she snapped, "I knocked the last time, it's not my fault you weren't home." He laughed, and brought the bottle of beer to his mouth. She shook her head and said, "It's not even three."

"I'll live."

"Maybe. People die from alcohol poisoning, you know."

"I'll put it down if you want." She gave him a look and he sighed and relinquished the bottle, placing it on the table in front of him. Silence came over them again. "Did you go see your daddy?"

"No. He hates me."

"That's not true. Why would he hate you?"

"You know why."

"Well, I just asked, so obviously I don't."

"Because I married you, but you knew that."

"No, I didn't know that..."

"You just wanted me to say it out loud."

"Julie. Your dad doesn't hate you."

She looked up at him, and once again their eyes locked. Sometimes she had this feeling where she was calm and secure, and it tended to happen when she was with him. Coincidence. "Why did you want to see me?"

"I like spending time with you."

"Is that so?"

"I married you, didn't I?"

"Why did you really want to see me?"

"I missed you. And I thought we should talk now that we have the chance."

She nodded, "Do you want to make it official?"

He was confused, what was she talking about. Obviously she read it because she said, "Our marriage..."

"A divorce?" the words sounded cold when they escaped from his mouth. A divorce would be like giving up.

"Well, I mean... it's kind of really, really, weirdly ridiculous we've been separated for so long and never, you know, grabbed the bull by it's horns."

"I got a cat."

Now she was confused, "What?"

"A year ago, she was a kitten..."

She decided to go along with it, maybe it was an analogy, "Uh huh..."

"I named it Kitty."

"How original."

"Thanks."

"So this was just you changing the subject?"

"Basically."

She sighed, "Don't you want to get it over with, I mean, you could get married again... to Lyla..."

"I'm not marrying Lyla," he paused, "Is there anybody you might be marrying?"

"What do you mean?"

"You know what I mean."

"I'm not engaged." Damn, she could be seeing somebody. He hated himself for envying the guy after so long... and there wasn't even a confirmation of such a guy. More silence, all these awkward silences. Except they weren't that awkward, and he almost lived for them. He could almost imagine the good old days in them. So much so he felt he had to cut off the awkward silence by kissing her.

His lips dived for hers. His lips were cool against hers, but she couldn't succumb to any of this. Not after everything... she pulled away and tears came to her eyes.

"I'm sorry I messed everything up..." he said.

She shook her head, and he went on: "I shouldn't of went off with Adele..."

"You remember her name?"

He ignored her question, "I'm sorry I wrecked our marriage." his hands were still on her. She escaped from his clutches.

"That wasn't the only thing..." she said, looking down now.

"Can we try again?"

"Tim, I'm not the same person anymore. And you're not all solemn and not-talky anymore... you seemed to have watched more TV or something and are just a lot less... well, I'm able to have a conversation with you. And there's a lot more sarcasm now."

"I'm sarcastic?"

"Yeah..." she sniffled a bit. She didn't want to admit it, but him being sarcastic was kind of a turn on.

"I still love you."

She melted a little when he said that. Because she loved him too, always had, no matter how hard she wanted to stop it he wasn't just a fling. He was her husband. "Sometimes you gotta know when to call it quits, Tim, and I think that we knew the first time. And, I don't know, I don't think the premise of a relationship that once was is enough to build another relationship on... essentially ours which wasn't strong enough to hold up the first time," ok, she was ranting now. She headed towards the door.

"Wait!" He tore after her, he grabbed her shoulder. She turned around, and allowed herself to be absorbed by him. This time it was her kiss that landed on his lips, and he kissed back.


	4. A WORLD WITHOUT Y O U

**Chapter Four: A World Without YOU**

Kareene wasn't one to lose her cool. She wasn't called Kareene-Never-Lost-Her-Clue for nothing. Okay, nobody called her that. There were other things people called her, though. She smiled. Then her thoughts raced back to the thing of importance... she'd spotted the GOLDEN TICKET.

Last night, she'd gone to James' apartment to drop off the promotion gift her and James had gone halfsies on and she saw... It. A ring. An engagement ring. Julie had to be warned. I mean, could James do that? They'd been dating well over a year... but... dammit, had Julie told him about that thing. You know that little thing about her already being married?

Julie wasn't picking up her phone... why the hell couldn't she pick up for her gorgeous, amazing, cute (and did I say gorgeous?) best friend? It was for her own good anyway?

She was now in her amazingly cute 1960s Volkswagen Beetle driving to Dillon, Texas. From Vermont. It was going to be a long day.

They lay side by side, under a white flannel sheet with blue stripes. On top of the sheet, Tim's hand held hers. It was weird, they'd gone from witty (well at least she thought it was...) banter to sex. It had never been like that before. In their marriage it had been just sex, and then nothing. It was her way of connecting with him... weirdly... She just realized now that maybe them talking and having an actual relationship would have worked.

"How did it fall apart?" he asked, as though he needed a refresher. And he did, it had happened so long ago and so fast, he couldn't remember for the life of him what half their fights were about.

She had to think about it for a minute, "We wern't really ever together."

"Don't say that... we were."

"But not in the way married people are, normally."

They were quiet again, and Julie rolled over and leaned her face into his chest. Tears came to her eyes, and they dripped onto his chest. His hand moved up and then through her hair, "Don't... I'm sorry..."

"It's hard."

_It's always hard for you._ "I know," he slipped his arm under and around her, and there they lay. Two, not one. Together. "You know they miscarriage wasn't your fault, right? It wasn't mine, either. It wasn't anybodies fault. Things just happen." he paused, "Shit happens." More tears welled up in her eyes.

"It hurt when you slept with her." It did, and it all those months it hurt before then.

"I'm sorry... I'm so sorry."

Kareene was in her car, the cute little green bug, and it was rather dull to be on her own... she hated being alone. It was a curse. She was the opposite of her best friend in the way that she couldn't entertain herself for more then an hour by herself. That's why she had friends. She was quite restless.

So maybe she stopped and picked up a hitchhiker. And the hitchhiker didn't seem like a killer in that movie she'd rented with Julie last year... The Hitcher.

"So, I'm Kareene, by the way. Kareene Smith."

The girl nodded, she was about five foot nine, and had long purple hair. She was... so emo... Kareene didn't know how somebody could wear that much eye makeup.

"I'm Adele. Cheers." Adele gave a huge smile. Big white teeth emerged.

"Oh. My. God. Is that, like, an accent??" Kareene asked, hearing some sort of accent. "Are you from New Zeland?"

Adele looked at her as if she was crazy, "Obviously not." she shook her head, "I have nothing to do with those sheep rooters."

Kareene was confused, "Oh, did you teach yourself to talk that way...?"

"I'm Australian."

"Oh, sweet, I love Crocodile Dundee!! So, where are you going?"

**AN: I'd like to thank** Photogirl 16.. ScarlettLetters,. Shimigirl., BdavisLoVeSlscott, cenababy. emluvsrh. gizmossidekick. Jessieb911 lemonlimeb. soapqueen16 **for subscribing, and ****Photogirl 16 and****katerinaesperante**** for favouriting We Belong. I'd also like to thank ScarlettLetters, lemonlimeb and Kareene for their constant reviews! I hope you liked the chapter!**


	5. ALL THE PRETTY FACES

**Chapter Five: All The Pretty Faces**

She went to wash her face and couldn't for the life of her find any hand towels. She looked everywhere and eventually gave up. Tim was at work. She was alone in his apartment and she felt surprisingly happy just the way she was. She didn't need friends or work or anything really. She just needed Tim and maybe a paperback or two (or fifty or so) and she'd be good for... well however long it would take to finish 50 paperbacks. It was a weird feeling to be content with herself and her surroundings, she hadn't in so long.

She sighed, and wrapped herself in a robe which was blue and soft and cushy. She went back to the bedroom and threw herself onto the bed, her hair flying out behind her. The new and improved (and more humorous) Tim was... so much hotter then James it wasn't funny? Dammit, now she had James on the brain. She didn't want (or need) to be thinking of him. Her Literary Fling. Her Literary Fling. Who was she kidding, they'd been together for almost a year and she hadn't told him she was married! She really did have something with James, even if it was over now, and she was being a jerk. She slipped out of the blue cushy robe and it fell onto the bed. She put her clothes back on, they stuck to her as she was still wet from a shower.

As she started to dry her hair she noticed that on the robe there was a monogrammed G. Garrity. As in Lyla.

"So I was like, no, mom I'm not doing that." Kareene said, looking toward Adele for encouragement. She offered none. "And then she told me that I needed to focus on finding a man... _who has a pension_. So I still don't know what the hell she means." Kareene sighed and leaned back into the seat, "What do you think?"

Adele was silent, then she said, "Honestly, I have no idea why your mom thinks you need a man with a pension."

Kareene nodded, "I know." She saw a sign that said, _Welcome to Dillon, Home of the Panthers, _and said, "I think this is it."

Julie was just about through packing her stuff. She was looking for the last thing she'd brought, the necklace Matt had given her so long ago. It was weird, but she held some sort of attachment to it. She was now in the chair, the nice chair. Her hands were under the cushions. She felt metal... this is it? She pulled it out...

Handcuffs.

Damn, Tim, did she really have to know all about Lyla's sexual prowess? It was bad enough with the robe and the condoms and now... dammit... he was such a jerk.

"Where are you going?" Kareene asked. She felt some attachment to the Hitchhiker.

Adele looked up, "I don't know." Kareene sighed at the hobo.

"Come with me... I'm getting a room." Adele's face looked surprised. "No, honey, not like that." Kareene laughed. "You need a place to stay, and there's nothing else for you to do in this hick town..."

Adele agreed hastily. She didn't think that Kareene, or anybody for that matter, realized that she wasn't too fond of Kareene. "Let's get a room."

Tim came through the doors, in a suit, he'd just had a long day and felt like he could use a little Julie/Tim time. It looked like she was leaving though. When he looked at her she looked up and said, "Hey, have you seen my necklace?" he shook his head, he hadn't. He also didn't care at all.

"Where ya goin, Julie?"

"Home."

"Home is where the heart is."

"Aye, I left my heart in Vermont, then." she looked away. Her eyes had that look, the look that tears gave them, they were red and puffy.

"You don't need to go, you know."

"Tim... I was under the impression that you and Lyla hadn't gone out yet."

"... We havn't."

"Then what's with the bath robe, and the condoms, and obviously you didn't pick out that chair. Though I like it a lot, I know Garrity had her hand in it."

"Julie, you picked out that chair."

"What?"

"At the mall."

"At what mall?" she sighed, "I don't need any more of your shit." She clasped the necklace and bolted for the door.

But it was too late, Tim grabbed her hand and attached those handcuffs to her wrist, the other one firmly around his.

**AN: Ooooo a bit of a cliff-hanger here! I hope your enjoying it!**


	6. THE CHAIN GANG

**Chapter Six: The Chain Gang**

"What did you do?" Julie sighed, Tim truly was the biggest idiot she'd ever met, "Do you think I'm gettin' busy in Lyla's handcuffs?" She scowled at him, he was really pissing her off.

"No, I know you wouldn't do anything scandalous like that."

"Timothy Riggins, stop mocking me."

"Julie, shut up."

"You'd like that, wouldn't you."

"Yeah, that's why I told you to do it."

And so they sat, attached at the wrist for a good ten minutes. Neither one of them said anything until Julie broke the silence with a, "Are you going to let me go?" He looked around, obviously for a key and didn't find one. He felt immediately embarrassed. He didn't have the key. Had Georgie even left the key after their romp about five months ago?

Meanwhile, Kareene was checking into their hotel. She walked up and shook the hand of the girl at the reception desk, who had really nice long dark hair and looked like she cared a lot about hygiene. "I'd like to check in, I had a reservation, under Smith." The girl smiled, her name tag said _Lyla_. What a pretty name. Kareene never knew Texans named their kids anything other then Gracie-Belle or Holly-Grace or some other sort of name you'd expect an incestual hillbilly to have. Other then Julie, but that wasn't an original name or anything.

"Uh, right." Adele walked through the doors and caught Lyla's eyes. "'Ello." Lyla beamed at the newcomer, she was a very happy person.

"I'll be right with you."

"She's with me."

"Oh, is she _with_ you...?" Lyla wanted to know for two accounts, the first that she needed to know whether a king or two double beds, and the other was that she was momentarily taken by this person who greeted her with an accent. _Lyla you're not a lesbian, _she had to remind herself. Yet she wanted to knock boots with this girl.

"Yeah, I just said she was." Kareene replied in her typical unaware Yankee way.

When they walked back to their room and Kareene noticed it was a room with a king bed Adele snickered and said, "Do you get what she meant now?" Kareene only nodded and tried to get Julie on the phone.

In Vermont, James Walsh was at the radio station. NPR, National Public Radio, in case you haven't heard of it. I mean, it was no BBC or anything but come on, it's still NPR. Smart People Radio. Where they'd have discussions on science or literature or what he was there to discuss, History. He did so every Wednesday and the people liked him. It was because of his accent. He was from New Zeland, but everybody just called him "The Australian" and it annoyed him to bits. He had nothing to do with those people who seemed to have no interest in sheep or lambs of any kind.

He hadn't seen Julie all week, and he was wondering where the hell she was. I mean, if she wasn't there, how the hell was he going to kiss her, become engaged to her, and then fuck her brains out?

He dialled her cell phone for what seemed like the millionth time. She didn't pick up, surprise, surprise.

She heard a ring to the tone of her cell ringing, "I should get that." She said, but without the urgency of somebody who wanted to really get it... like she was saying it out of duty. She sighed and sat into the couch when he didn't really reply. Then Kitty jumped up onto them and started to snuggle into Tim's lap. "I can't believe you did this. Do you take pride in being able to out-idiot yourself every time?"

He sighed, "Actually, I don't." He was quiet for a minute, "Julie what happened?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean we'd just spent two days, uh, you know, content, and then you're leaving in a huff?"

Julie sighed and tears came to her eyes, "Why did you have to go back to her at all?" it was a sore subject with them, their past had clearly been shaken by it. Lyla had been the object of many fights in the five months of their relationship before the marriage.

"What are you talking about?"

"Uh, condoms, handcuffs, and a robe with a G on it. You know I'm not an idiot right, I went to TMU, and I know that G equals Garrity which means Lyla."

"You make it seem like I never went to college."

"You dropped out."

"Also, remember my employer? You know... Buddy?"

"Are you saying that you're sleeping with Buddy not Lyla?" Julie couldn't help but be infinitely grossed out by this.

"Of course not, but he likes to give out things with his initial on them."

There was a knock on the door and they heard through the door, "JULIE TAYLOR I KNOW YOU'RE IN THERE!"

**AN: Thanks for reading. I know you're all anxious for more Adele the whore.**


	7. BITTERSWEET FAREWELLS

**Chapter Seven: Bittersweet Farewells**

"Who the hell is that?" Tim had to ask, shocked at the female voice. Julie just rolled her eyes, knowing exactly who it was…

She said, in a very sarcastic voice: "Get up, gorgeous." Tim did as she said, and she dragged him to the door where she opened it, "Hey!"

Kareene looked at Julie with an urgency, and t hen looked down, "Are those handcuffs?"

With Tim smirking, Julie said, "It's a long story."

Kareene just nodded, she wasn't really one to judge. "Ok, anyway, you weren't picking up your phone." Kareene saw her cell phone in a pile of Tim's clothes. "Oh, well…" suddenly a realization came upon her, "James is going to propose."

"What?"

But nothing beat Tim's "WHAT?"

"Urgh…"

"Who the hell is James?"

Kareene was the one to answer this question, "Her boyfriend!" like Tim didn't know, "Oh, I'm Kareene by the way. Julie's best friend."

"No kidding."

"Tim, stop being a retard."

"Stop making fun of my disabilities."

"You guys are so cute!" Kareene said, "but not as cute as James, Julie, we gotta go. Let's cut this escapade short!" she pivoted on her stilleto heel, "Hurry along, Julie. I have an Australian goth to attend to."

"Uh, I'm kind of tied up."

"Right."

Tim was infuriated. She had a boyfriend? He was going to propose? Now he knew why she was really there.

Meanwhile, Lyla Garrity was sniffing around Adele's hotel room. "Hi, I was just wondering… if you needed anything?"

"Uh, no actually. I'm good."

Lyla was engrossed by Adele's voice, it was a tad higher then hers. She stared at her with a gaze that nobody could ever penetrate. "Oh, alright." she walked away sad that she used her chance to get some satisfaction and it didn't work out. She went back to the lobby and about half an hour there was a phone call.

"Hi, I was wondering if I could book a room?"

"Most certainly," she said to the guy who had a similar accent to Adele's.

Back at Tim's apartment, Kareene was looking for sharp objects in which to break Tim and Julie apart with. Tim was sulking and not saying anything, and Julie said seldom herself. She talked occasionally and kept looking back at Tim, who was sullen.

"Ok, what about soap or Vaseline?" Kareene asked, after spending half an hour ruining Tim's bread knife. He just glared at Julie. She looked small. There wasn't going to be another way for them to be together, she knew it. It saddened her to no end, but there didn't seem to be a way for Tim and Julie to be Man and Wife anytime soon, and maybe she needed to come down here to finally realize this.

Without consulting him, Kareene started to rub the hypoallergenic moisturizer she'd miraculously pulled from her purse onto his wrist. At this point in the game, however, he didn't really care.

Another half an hour and they were free. Julie and Kareene silently emerged from Tim's apartment. As soon as Kareene shut the door, tears came to Julie's eyes. "Jules…" Kareene said, immediately hugging her best friend. "What are you going to do?"

Julie just shook her head and got into Kareene's beetle.

In his apartment, Tim was sitting on the couch, his hand and wrist hurting like hell. He looked down at it, was just as much a remainder of her as his tattoo, in which she'd never known was about her. _July _it read. When she'd enquired why he had a random month tattoed on him, he gave some lame excuse. In truth, he'd got it when he was drunk and gave the artist a wrong spelling of Julie. She never had to know, it would just be more evidence for her to believe that he was an idiot.

The redness and swelling were nothing, however, when he realized how empty his heart was. He guessed there was always good old Lyla.

Good old Lyla, however, wasn't waiting for Riggins to notice her, however, but she was at her daddy's house. She'd been let off work early and asked Adele if she wanted to hang out, where Adele replied that she had plans. Why was her first time venturing into lesbianism so hard? She sighed, and Buddy asked her how Tim was. She shrugged, "I guess I don't really care."

"Lyla, baby, if you marry him, he might be coerced into coaching."

Well, maybe it wouldn't be so bad to marry Riggins. She wasn't being taken by anybody else, and at 28 she was getting rather old and losing her looks. Maybe it was time to sell the cow.

**A/N: Hope your enjoying it. Lily loves Australians. **


	8. NOTHING LIKE YOU AND I

**Chapter Eight: Nothing Like You and I**

The blushing bride walked down the aisle. She was wearing all white, other then a blue pair of knickers. And that wasn't because of the "something blue" requirement, more that James had requested she wear them. Sometimes even she didn't get his dirty mind.

She greeted James there, her face looking at his. James was everything a man should be… smart, well built, has a job that pays well, he was fun to be around. Yet she couldn't help thinking about the but that she knew was there. The 'but I'm not sure I want to spend the rest of my life with him' but. She knew it even as she walked down the aisle, and even now that there was no Riggins to make her change her mind or something, she had a feeling of unease.

She looked down at her father who was standing up, looking proud. Finally, his daughter was going to marry somebody who was decent, gainfully employed and hadn't knocked her up. God, why couldn't somebody just abduct her or something? These weren't thought you want to have walking into a marriage, were they?

There she was standing there with the minister and James. She couldn't do it. "I'm sorry…" she said, near tears running out. There was heaps of dress in her hands, the silk felt nice against her. What was she doing? Why couldn't she have just came to Dillon unattached? Why couldn't she and Tim had their fantasy ever-after land….

She was beginning to realize that Lyla hadn't changed Tim, Tyra hadn't and neither had she, not really. He'd changed himself. And maybe that was what was keeping her coming back. The fact that he was a good enough guy to care to change himself. She couldn't just go through there with her magic wand and change him, no… and that made sense. She shouldn't have been able to do that.

She looked around for a pay phone, she didn't have a quarter. She'd call collect. 0-678-492-3219.

No answer. Why was life like this? She dialled again, this time to Jason's, where he might be.

Jason picked up, "Hello?"

Julie smiled. Good, atleast it wasn't Herc, who scared her to death. "Jason, hey it's Julie."

"Oh… hey Julie." there was something in his voice.

"Is Tim there?"

There was a stiff silence and then, "You don't know?"

Julie was on the edge of her seat. Didn't know what?

Back at the church, James was in a mood which could only be described in the word: Fuck. His bride had just left him. He was now completely alone. He looked down at what was going to be his father in law, Mr. Taylor who had always told him to call him Coach. Which was weird. What was with Americans and football? He then looked down at Adele, the girl who was one of Julie's bridesmaids, standing in for Kareene.

Kareene had left with Julie's rival, Lyla Garrity, to live in a lesbian commune in the Rocky Mountains. She said she didn't want to return for the wedding.

Adele was pretty, she had that Emo Chic thing going for her… so, maybe he could take his mind off of Julie?

Just then, the doors were broken open by some guy with long, uncombed hair. Adele, the girl he was currently lusting after, took one look at him and fainted.

"YOU CANT GO THROGH WITH THIS!!" the random guy yelled, and then said, "Wait, where's Julie?"

**A/N: Short I know! I hope you all liked it. As you can see, I left you on a cliff hanger.**


End file.
